AGRICULTURE: General concepts SSLIC-SOCIAL SCIENCES Geography DBH 3
GENERAL CONCEPTS SYSTEMS OF AGRICULTURE ACCORDING TO Crop diversity Water use Farming techniques Structure of the land RECENT APPROACHES SINGLE CROP MULTIPLE CROP INTENSIVE EXTENSIVE GREEN REVOLUTION (Monoculture) (Polyculture) WITH IRRIGATION WITHOUT IRRIGATION BOCAGE OPENFIELD "ORGANIC FARMING
CROP DIVERSITY SINGLE-CROP FARMING (Monoculture) When only one crop (product) is grown (cultivated). MULTIPLE-CROP FARMING (Polyculture) When we grow more than one product at the same time
WATER USE Irrigated lands When a crop,apart from the rainwater, needs to be artificcially irrigated. (USE OF WATER) Unirrigated lands When a crop grows WITHOUT IRRIGATION using rainwater and requires little attention (NO USE OF WATER)
IRRIGATED CROPS Vegetables and fruits
UNIRRIGATED CROPS CEREALS (WHEAT) Olives Grapes VINEYARDS OLIVES TREES
IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN TIME PAST, very developed civilisations such as the Romans and the Muslims USED TO BUILD: AQUEDUCTS WATERWHEELS IRRIGATION CHANNELS TO MAKE GOOD USE OF WATER
NOWADAYS, we also build: IRRIGATION CHANNELS DAMS RESERVOIRS TO SUPPLY CITIES AND LANDS WITH WATER
FARMING TECHNIQUES INTENSIVE When a land is cultivated using new technology (chemical fertilisers, pesticides, genetically improved seeds...) EXTENSIVE It involves low use of new technology with the crop yield depending on the natural conditions of soil fertility,water supply...
Intensive agriculture Greenhouses
TO START THINKING...
AND...... TO CONTINUE THINKING... ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF INTENSIVE AGRICULTURE: SOIL EROSION
STRUCTURE OF THE LAND OPENFIELD Large fields (not divided by hedges), with geometric and straight boundaries,not indicating where a property finishes and another one begins. BOCAGE Lands surrounded and separated by hedges and wooden fences, typical of zones next to the Atlantic...
RECENT APPROACHES GREEN REVOLUTION ORGANIC FARMING ( + quantity) ( + quality) It refers to the introduction of better crop variaties (genetically modified) and increased use of fertilisers and irrigation. -These were introduced after 1965 in developing countries and led to a substantial increased in the agricultural production It avoids the use of artificial fertilisers, weed killers and insecticides Instead, Natural fertilisers
ON THE ONE HAND... GENETICALLY MODIFIED (GM) CROPS
BUT... ON THE OTHER HAND... For the first time since record keeping began in the 1960s, per capita food production in sub- Saharan Africa is beginning to rise. Agricultural growth in sub-saharan Africa has accelerated to 3.3 percent in the 1990s and to 3.8 percent per year between 2000 and 2005." As a result, the report stated, "rural poverty has also started to decline in 10 of 13 countries analyzed." This is thanks largely to an African "green revolution" a combination of better crop varieties and increased use of fertilizers says soil scientist Pedro Sanchez, director of tropical agriculture at The Earth Institute at Columbia University in New York
ACTIVITIES: Look at these photos and choose between the following characteristics: (2 (1 (3 MONOCULTURE / POLYCULTURE IRRIGATED / UNIRRIGATED LANDS EXTENSIVE / INTENSIVE FARMING OPENFIELD / BOCAGE
Do the same with these ones too: (4 MONOCULTURE / POLYCULTURE IRRIGATED / UNIRRIGATED LANDS EXTENSIVE / INTENSIVE FARMING OPENFIELD / BOCAGE (5 (7 (6
SOLUTIONS: (1 (2 MONOCULTURE - MONOCULTURE IRRIGATED UNIRRIGATED INTENSIVE FARMING EXTENSIVE FARMING BOCAGE / OPENFIELD OPENFIELD
(3 (4 POLYCULTURE??/ PASTURE??? IRRIGATED?? / RAINWATER?? either INTENSIVE or FOR SELF CONSUM BOCAGE POLYCULTURE??? IRRIGATED INTENSIVE GREENHOUSES
(7 (6 (5 MONOCULTURE POLYCULTURE MONOCULTURE IRRIGATED IRRIGATED/RAINWATER UNIRRIGATED INTENSIVE GREENHOUSES INTENSIVE? / SELF CONSUM?? BOCAGE EXTENSIVE OPENFIELD